Organizational Rhetoric and the Public Debate Over Precarity
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i DOES THE TIN MAN HAVE A HEART?: ORGANIZATIONAL RHETORIC AND THE PUBLIC DEBATE OVER PRECARITY IN THE AMAZON-NEW YORK TIMES CONTROVERSY by EMMA E. COLLINS B.A., Western Kentucky University, 2015 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Communication 2017 ii This thesis entitled: Does the Tin Man Have a Heart?: Organizational Rhetoric and the Public Debate over Precarity in the Amazon-New York Times Controversy written by Emma E. Collins has been approved for the Department of Communication ____________________________________________________________ Bryan Taylor _____________________________________________________________ Ruth Hickerson _____________________________________________________________ Jody Jahn Date ___________________ The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we Find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards Of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. iii Collins, Emma E. (M.A., Communication) Does the Tin Man Have a Heart?: Organizational Rhetoric and the Public Debate over Precarity in the Amazon-New York Times Controversy Thesis directed by Professor Bryan Taylor Abstract This thesis is concerned with public discourse and cultural controversy around labor precarity in high-technology organizations. Through analyzing a case study, in which a New York Times exposé of Amazon’s treatment of white-collar workers inspired thousands to join a conversation on labor rights, this thesis contributes to discovering how organizational identity is co-constructed with the public and journalism’s (constrained) role in labor activism. Just as the New York Times article exposed the still present reality of labor exploitation in the “new economy,” this project seeks to rupture the myth of utopian labor conditions in the high- technology sector. This thesis examines how organizational rhetors discursively maintain legitimacy and authority while depicting labor precarity by reframing these practices as allowing employees freedom and choice. The project also uses the methodological tool of external organizational rhetoric to uncover how external stakeholders interpret and add to controversy, expanding the scope the story through their discursive representations of labor precarity. I conclude this project with some thoughts on the lasting impact of the controversy on Amazon’s organizational identity, as well as some future possibilities for labor resistance against precarity. iv CONTENTS CHAPTER I. An Introduction to Labor and High-Technology Organizations .......................................... 1 Labor Precarity as Cultural Controversy .................................................................................... 1 Labor Precarity in High Tech Organizations .............................................................................. 5 High Tech Organizations as a Cultural Text ............................................................................... 8 A Bruising Workplace, Contested .............................................................................................. 9 II. Organizational Rhetoric, Controversy And Methods ........................................................ 15 Organizational Rhetoric ............................................................................................................ 15 Organizational Rhetoric and Controversy ................................................................................ 19 TLDR: The Times Story ............................................................................................................ 23 Procedures of Analysis ............................................................................................................. 26 Chapter Previews ...................................................................................................................... 27 III. A Clash of Titans: Amazon Responds to the New York Times ......................................... 30 Overview of Amazon’s Responses ........................................................................................... 30 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 42 IV. External Stakeholders Weigh in on the Controversy of Labor Precarity ....................... 45 Labor precarity as personal and structural ................................................................................ 46 A World Beyond Precarity? ...................................................................................................... 51 Implicating the Role of Technology ......................................................................................... 54 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 56 V. The Tin Man Still Doesn’t Have a Heart: Concluding Thoughts on Precarity, Public Debate and the Amazon-New York Times Controversy ........................................................... 59 v Co-construction of Organizational Identity .............................................................................. 60 Lessons Learned on Resisting Precarity ................................................................................... 64 References .................................................................................................................................... 68 1 CHAPTER I An Introduction to Labor and High-Technology Organizations Labor Precarity as Cultural Controversy As labor market and job characteristics are transformed by evolving political-economy, popular and academic sources are rife with references to a new economy that is “post-Fordist” and “post-industrial.” This phenomenon is usually associated with changes in career expectations, access to technology, and transnational economic integration. Broadly, Taylor (2001) defined the new economy through these features: “the rise of shareholder value and short- term strategy, downsizing, outsourcing, mergers, innovations in computing and telecommunications technology, market differentiation, flexible production, globalization, and hegemonic discourses that prioritize knowledge, enterprise, and the customer” (p.32). The new post-industrial economy is often lauded for its worker flexibility and transition away from physical labor jobs. Microsoft Corporation founder Bill Gates infamously announced that capitalism was becoming “friction free” (as cited in Brophy, 2006, p.620). However, for people that are not among the richest men in the world, the new economy has proven to be filled with friction, tension, and a new term coined by academics to explain the uncertainty of labor in the new economy, precarity. Brophy (2006) explained: Precarity…refers to the growing insecurity brought on by the flexible management of the global work force within post-fordist capitalism. Formally, precarity entails a range of labour conditions that escape the traditionally understood Fordist relationship to labour: a job for life, dependable benefits, steady work rhythms, union protection, a fairly clear 2 separation between work and free time, a social safety net if all else failed and so on.” (p.622). While knowledge workers, and more specifically high-tech workers may be thought to be too skilled or too privileged to be exploited by labor conditions, they are increasingly affected by uncertainty and exhaustion. Rodino-Colocino (2006) argued that technology jobs are often represented as an excellent opportunity for economic opportunity and advancement. These jobs often require training but not advanced education and are possible for many historically marginalized groups on the wrong side of the digital divide. However, the dream of achieving equality through employment in well-paying technology jobs remains elusive for many. Rodino- Colocino explained “as critique of the IT labor market demonstrates, technological proficiency and even mastery do not ensure stable, living waged work” (p.495). Further, Brophy explained that high-tech work “is a paradigmatic form of work in the knowledge economy” and features “increasingly precarious” occupations. (p.623). Software engineers and computer scientists are increasingly being hired as temporary and contract workers, leaving them without consistent work, pay or benefits. Brophy compared the scene to 1930s auto factory workers, because although the work is definitively less physical, corporations are yet again taking advantage of labor and there are not yet strong unions or protections in place for the workers. Rodino-Colocino (2012) explained that the reality of the instability of technology work shocked many that were affected from 2002-2005, an era filled with technology firm layoffs and offshoring. Traditionally privileged identities, including white-collar professional white men in the technology sector, were outraged when their jobs and livelihoods proved to be disposable during this especially tumultuous time in the technology sector (Rodino- Colocino). In response, unions have begun to emerge in the high-tech sector, demanding stable 3 work and benefits (e.g., Washington Alliance of Technology Workers). However, there is still a cultural hesitance among many high-tech workers to unionize or collectively bargain (Brophy, 2006). The myth of a new economy, in which the need